These are my top 10 games of the College Football Season. You will see some ESPN-hyped, obvious ones on the list, but most will be either games with ramifications or a great game for a fan of the sport of football to watch.
Boise St. vs. Virginia Tech (Sept. 6th)
I would rarely put a game in the 1st week as one of the best games of the year but this one I’ve been waiting for since I heard it was happening a couple of years back. There is a lot riding on this game. Boise needs it as it is a national broadcast game that is not a bowl game and against a BCS conference. VT needs this game because they had an awesome year last year but everyone remembers they lost two games last year, the ACC championship against Georgia Tech in the ACC/SEC showdown against Alabama. Both were competitive but they took 2 L’s. All eyes will be on them again. Game is in Baltimore, which will mean a home game for VT. I don’t see how Boise St. can win if Virginia Tech pressures Boise St. with their defense, but Chris Petersen is an excellent coach and has a good team that could enforce any game plan he draws up with 19 starters coming back.
Miami vs. Ohio St. (Sept. 11th)
Miami could exact revenge for the refs blown call in the 2003 Championship game. For the second year in a row, the Hurricanes have the toughest schedule in the nation and it starts officially in Columbus. However, Miami has no excuses for this game. They are not young, they have an O-line and their players are used to winning. Ohio St. plays their only relevant game out of conference (OOC), so they should look to prove to the nation that are worth their lofty ranking again is no fluke. Win this game, and the national championship game definitely goes through Columbus; unless the average duo of Iowa and Wisconsin can pull a shocker.
Baylor v. TCU (Sept. 18th)
As I said in my earlier post, TCU does not impress me in the least with their football program. Their offense will probably still not have an identity like the one last year, when Boise made them look horrible in the Fiesta Bowl. Their defense has always been their strong point, but they lost some of their key starters like Jerry Hughes. Baylor will never be in the same formation twice under Art Briles. IF ROBERT GRIFFITH is healthy, I fully expect Baylor to win this game by at least a touchdown. NO WAY TCU goes undefeated in the regular season 2 years in a row.
Pitt @ Miami (Sept. 23rd)
Miami will have a bye week before it has to travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers. Win this game along with the OSU game, and Miami should be the no.1 team in my opinion, because of their strength of schedule. Won’t be easy though because Pittsburgh is the class of the Big East and is very balanced on offense. I think Miami should take this game if their defense shows up but it will be in a harsh environment and definitely an entertaining game.
Miss. St. v. Houston (Oct. 9th)
This game was an awesome game last year that came to the wire with Houston stealing a 31-24 win. Miss. St. was robbed on a fumble call late in the game. Keenum threw for over 430 yards and Anthony Dixon ran for over 130 yards for MSU. Even though Dixon is gone, I expect this game to be much wilder this year.
Arkansas v. Auburn (Oct. 16th)
This was one of the SEC’s most entertaining games of the year, which saw a total score of 65 points. Arkansas ended up pouring it on late and knocked off a then 17th ranked Auburn 44-23. Auburn was down 27-3 at half but made it 34-23 heading into the 4th before running out of gas. There was almost 900 yards of offense in this game last year. This should be a closer game this year since no one will sneak up on anyone this year. This game will help frame the SEC West.
Houston @ SMU (Oct. 23)
This game should be a shoot-out this year being that it’s on SMU’s turf. This game was almost 800 yards of offense last year. Two awesome coaches in Kevin Sumlin and June Jones. Huge game in the Conference USA West Division.
GT @ VT (Nov. 4th)
This was a great game last year in which Georgia Tech was one of three top 25 that beat Virginia Tech. Both teams are disciplined with great coaches and starters coming back. Even though these squads have solid defenses, this game combined for over 700 yards. This game will probably decide tiebreakers in the ACC Coastal Division.
Miss. St. v. Arkansas (Nov. 20th)
These two squads are some of the more creative offenses in the league behind Auburn and with Florida sandwiched in between. Last year’s game Miss. St. ran for over 300 yards on Arkansas defense. However the defense couldn’t stop Mallet in the 4th quarter. I think you can see I really like Dan Mullen and his offense.
Auburn v. Alabama (Nov. 26th)
Since Saban has taken over, Auburn is one of few teams that not only believe they can compete with Alabama but they expect to win the game. This year will be no different. Auburn’s strong point will be spreading the ball out to its wideouts with medium to deep passes. Alabama’s most obvious weak point is the secondary. The question is whether Auburn will have enough depth on defense for the 4th quarter, or whether Chiznik will have a different scheme this year to throw Alabama off. Last year Auburn used its bye week to install the 4-6 defense that threw the Alabama run game off last year. Don’t be surprised if this game was for the SEC West representative for the SEC Championship. Auburn must hold its end up.
Other games to watch in no particular order: Ohio St. @ Iowa, VT @ Miami, Alabama at Arkansas, SMU v. Texas Tech, Texas A&M v. Arkansas, Oregon v. USC, Oregon v. Oregon St, Houston v. Texas Tech
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